Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rcrh6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-30T19:00:18.715Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Eland Hunting Rituals among Northern and Southern San Groups: Striking Similarities1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 January 2012

J. D. Lewis-Williams  and
M. Biesele
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

The prominence of the eland in San thought is suggested by the frequency with which this antelope was depicted in rock paintings and also by the myths and rituals in which it features. In this paper we describe and compare certain eland beliefs and hunting rituals drawn from two San groups, the !Kung of Botswana and the now extinct \Xam of the Cape Province. The relevance of material obtained from the northern !Kung to the explication of the limited southern \Xam ethnographic record and rock paintings has been regarded as questionable in view of the ecological and linguistic differences between the two societies. Using the results of recent field work among the !Kung, we attempt to show that, in spite of the linguistic and ecological differences, there is evidence for a conceptual framework common to both groups.

Résumé

LES RITUELS DE LA CHASSE À L'ÉLAN CHEZ LES GROUPES SAN DU NORD ET DU SUD: QUELQUES RESSEMBLANCES FRAPPANTES

Deux ensembles de matériel ethnographique recueilli à cent années d'intervalle sont étudiés ici pour faire ressortir un cadre conceptuel commun aux différentes peuplades San d'Afrique méridionale qui vivent de la chasse et de la cueillette. Des enquetês menées chez les !Kung (San du nord) et effectuées au cours des années 1970 sont utilisées afin d'explorer à la fois la culture à présent disparue des /Xam (San du sud) telle qu'elle a été consignée vers 1870 et les peintures rupestres découvertes dans la zone /Xam. En dépit des différences linguistiques et écologiques entre les deux groupes, des ressemblances frappantes ont été mises á jour dans l'usage rituel et symbolique de l'élan du Cap.

La prééminence de l'elan dans la pensée San est suggérée par la fréquence avec laquelle celui-ci apparaît sur les peintures rupestres, dans les mythes et les rituels. Représentant la plus grande et la plus impressionnante des antilopes de l'Afrique méridionale, qui se distingue par sa graisse, sa chair délicieuse et son allure noble à laquelle s'ajoute une docilité surprenante, elle possède une très grande importance économique et artistique. Le symbole de l'élan était utilisé par les !Kung et les /Xam dans les céremonies de puberte des jeunes filles et les rites de mariage. On en constate la prédominance numérique sur tous les autres animaux dans les peintures rupestres de la zone /Xam. C'est un animal qui prédomine également dans les initiations à la chasse destinées aux jeunes gens. Les auteurs explorent en profondeur les renseignements que les chasseurs !Kung actuels, qui ont eux-mêmes accompli la poursuite de l'elan à pied puis recu les scarifications rituelles, peuvent fournir sur certaines remarques faites il y a un siècle à W. H. I. Bleek et Lloyd sur leurs anciens rituels de la chasse à l'élan.

Pour reprendre l'expression de Turner (1967: 51) l'élan émerge comme ‘symbole multivoque’ dans une grammaire de significations sociales. Certaines équivalences structurelles examinées dans le présent article suggérent que l'élan avait pour les /Xam une signification très peu différente de celle qu'il a encore pour les !Kung. Il est donc probablement légitime de mettre à profit les renseignements disponibles sur les !Kung pour procéder avec les précautions d'usage à un élargissement des renseignements limités sur les /Xam: ceci permettrait d'aboutir à une élucidation de l'élan en tant que symbole tel qu'il se manifeste dans l'art, les mythes et le rituel des San du sud.

Type
Research Article
Information
Africa , Volume 48 , Issue 2 , April 1978 , pp. 117 - 134
Copyright
Copyright © International African Institute 1978

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Arbousset, T. and Daumas, F. 1846 Narrative of an Exploratory Tour to the North-east of the Cape of Good Hope. London: John C. Bishop.Google Scholar
Baines, T. 1864 Exploration in South-West Africa. London: Longman, .Google Scholar
Barrow, J. 1801 An A ccount of Travels into the Interior of Southern Africa. 2 Vols. Londoncadell and davies.Google Scholar
Battiss, W. W. 1958 ‘Prehistoric rock engravings and Bushman paintings,’ in Grossert, J. W. (ed.) The Art of Africa. Pietermaritzburg: Shuter and Shooter.Google Scholar
Bleek, D. F. 1924 The Mantis and His Friends. Cape Town: Maskew Miller.Google Scholar
Bleek, D.F. 1927 ‘The distribution of bushman languages in South Africa,’ Festschrift Meinhof 55–64.Google Scholar
Bleek, D.F 1928 The Naron, A Bushman Tribe of the Central Kalahari. Cambridge: University Press.Google Scholar
Bleek, D.F 1932a ‘Customs and beliefs of the/Xam Bushman. Part III: Game Animals’, Bantu Studies 6: 233–4.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bleek, D.F 1932b ‘Customs and beliefs of the/Xam Bushmen. Part IV: Omens, Wind-Making, Clouds,’ Bantu Studies 6: 321–42.Google Scholar
Bleek, D.F 1935 ‘Beliefs and customs of the/Xam Bushmen. Part VII: Sorcerers,’ Bantu Studies 9: 1–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bleek, W. H. I. 1874 ‘Remarks on Orpen's “Mythology of the Maluti Bushmen”,’ Cape Monthly Magazine (N.S.) 9, 49: 10–13.Google Scholar
Bleek, W. H. I and Lloyd, L. C. 1911 Specimens of Bushmen Folklore. London: Allen.Google Scholar
Borcherds, P. B. 1861 An Autobiographical Memoir. Cape Town: Robertson.Google Scholar
Bryden, H. H. 1893 Gun and Camera in Southern Africa. A year of Wanderings in Bechuanaland, the Kalahari Desert, and the Lake River Country, Ngamiland. London: Edward Stanford.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bryden, H. H. 1899 Great and Small Game of Africa. London: Rowland Ward.Google Scholar
Burchell, W. J. 1822 Travels in the Interior of Southern Africa. 2 Vols. London: Longman.Google Scholar
Chapman, J. 1868 Travels in the Interior of South Africa. 2 Vols. London: Bell and Daldy.Google Scholar
Collins, R. 1838 ‘Journal of a tour on the north-eastern boundary, the Orange River, and the Storm Mountains, in 1809,’ in Moodie, D. (ed.) The Record. Vol. 5: 1–60. Cape Town.Google Scholar
Cumming, R. G. 1850 Five Years of a Hunter's Life in the Far Interior of South Africa. 2 Vols. London: John Murray.Google Scholar
Dornan, S. S. 1909 ‘Notes on the Bushmen of Basutoland,’ Trans. S. Afr. Philos. Soc, 181:437–50.Google Scholar
Dorst, J. and Dandelot, P. 1970 A Field Guide to the Larger Mammals of Africa. London: Collins.Google Scholar
Dunn, E. J. 1931 The Bushmen. London: Charles Griffith.Google Scholar
Ellenberger, D. F. and Macgregor, J. C. 1912 The History of the Basuto: Ancient and Modern. London: Caxton.Google Scholar
Fourie, L. 1928 ‘The Bushmen of South West Africa,’ in Hahn, C. (ed.) The Native Tribes of South West Africa. Cape Town: cape Times.Google Scholar
Harris, W. C. 1838 Narrative of an Expedition into Southern Africa during the years 1836 and 1837. Bombay: The American Mission Press.Google Scholar
Haughton, S. H. 1927‘Note on the Zaamenkomst slab,’ Trans. Royal Soc. S. Afr. 14: 315.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jenkins, T. and Tobias, P. V. 1977‘Nomenclature of population groups in southern Africa,’ African Studies 36: 49–55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kohler, O. 1973 ‘Die rituelle Jagd bei den Kxoe-Buschmannern von Mutsiku,’ in Tauchmann, K. (ed.) Festschrift zum 65 Geburtstag von Helmut Petri. Koln: Bohlau Verlag. 215–57.Google Scholar
Lee, R. B. 1968 ‘Comments on a symposium,’ in R, S. and Binford, L. R. (eds) New Perspectives in Archaeology. Chicago: Aldine.Google Scholar
Le Vaillant, F. 1796 New Travels into the Interior Parts of Africa, by way of the Cape of Good Hope, in the years 1783, 84 and 85. 3 Vols. London: J. Robinson.Google Scholar
Levi-Strauss, C. 1972 The Savage Mind. Transl., London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson.Google Scholar
Lewis-Williams, J. D. 1972 ‘The syntax and function of the Giant's Castle rock paintings,’ S. Afr. Archaeol. Bull. 27: 49–65.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lewis-Williams, J. D 1974 ‘Superpositioning in a sample of rock-paintings from the Barkly East district,’ S. Afr. Archaeol. Bull. 29: 99–103.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lewis-Williams, J. D 1975 ‘The Drakensberg rock paintings as an expression of religious thought’,’ in Anati, E. (ed.) Les Religions de la Prehistoire. Capo di Ponte: Centro Camuno di Studi Preistorici.Google Scholar
Lewis-Williams, J. D 1977 Believing and seeing: an interpretation of symbolic meanings in southern San rock paintings. University of Natal, Ph.D. thesis.Google Scholar
Lichtenstein, H. 1928 Travels in Southern Africa in the years 1803, 1804, 1805 and 1806.(Ed. Plumptre, A.) 2 Vols. Cape Town: van Riebeeck Society.Google Scholar
Livingstone, D. 1851 ‘Extracts from letters,’ J. RoyalGeog. Soc. 20: 138–42.Google Scholar
McCall, D. F. 1970 Wolf courts girl: the equivalence of hunting and mating in Bushman thought. Ohio University Papers in International Studies, Africa Series, No. 7.Google Scholar
Mackenzie, J. 1883 Day-Dawn in Dark Places. London: Cassell.Google Scholar
Maggs, T. M. O'C. 1967 ‘A quantitative analysis of the rock art from a sample area in the western Cape,’ S. Afr. J. Sci., 63 (3): 100–104.Google Scholar
Maingard, J. F. 1937 ‘Some notes on health and disease among the Bushmen of the southern Kalahari,’ in Jones, J. D. and Doke, C. M. (eds) Bushmen of the Southern Kalahari. Johannesburg: University of Witwatersrand Press.Google Scholar
Marshall, J. (n.d.) Film: A Joking Relationship. Somerville, Massachusetts: Documentary Educational Resources.Google Scholar
Marshall, L. 1957 ‘Now,’ Africa 27 (3) 232–40.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marshall, L. 1961 ‘Sharing, talking, and giving: relief of social tensions among Kung Bushmen, Africa 27 (3): 231–49.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marshall, L. 1969 ‘The medicine dance of the IKung Bushmen,’ Africa 39 (4): 347–81.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Methuen, H. H. 1846 Life in the Wilderness. London: R. Bentley.Google Scholar
Metzger, F. 1950 Narro and His Clan. Windhoek: John Meinert.Google Scholar
Moffat, R. 1842 Missionary Labours and Scenes in South Africa. London: John Snow.Google Scholar
Moodie, D. (ed.) 1838 The Record. Cape Town.Google Scholar
Orpen, J. M. 1874 ‘A glimpse into the mythology of the Maluti Bushmen,’ Cape Monthly Magazine(N.S.) 9, 49: 1–13.Google Scholar
Pager, H. 1971 Ndedema. Graz: Akademische Druck.Google Scholar
Pager, H. 1975 Stone Age Myth and Magic. Graz: Akademische Druck.Google Scholar
Philip, J. 1828 Researches in South Africa. 2 Vols. London: James Duncan.Google Scholar
Roberts, A. 1951 The Mammals of South Africa. Cape Town: central News Agency.Google Scholar
Rudner, I. 1965 ‘Archaeological report on the Tsodilo Hills, Bechuanaland,’ S. Afr. Archaeol. Bull. 20 (78): 51–70.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rudner, J. and I. 1970 The Hunterand His Art. Cape Town: Struik.Google Scholar
Selous, F. C. 1893 Travel and Adventure in South-East Africa. London: Rowland Ward.Google Scholar
Shaw, B. 1820 Memorials of South Africa. (Reprinted in 1970) Cape Town: Struik.Google Scholar
Shortridge, G. C. 1934 The Mammals of South-West Africa. London: Heinemann.Google Scholar
Silberbauer, G. B. 1965 Bushman Survey. Gaberones: Bechuanaland Government.Google Scholar
Smith, A. 1939/1940 The Diary of Dr Andrew Smith 1834–1836. (Kirby, P. R. (ed.).) 2 Vols. Cape Town: van Riebeeck Society.Google Scholar
Smits, L. G. H. 1971 ‘The rock paintings of Lesotho, the content and characteristics,’ schoonraad, M. (ed.) Rock Paintings of Southern Africa. S. Afr. Assoc. Adv. Sci. Spec. issue No. 2.Google Scholar
Sparrman, A. 1789 A Voyage to the Cape of Good Hope. 2 Vols. London: Lockington.Google Scholar
Steedman, A. 1835 Wanderings and Adventures in the Interior of Southern Africa. 2 Vols. London: Longman.Google Scholar
Steyn, H. P. 1971 ‘Aspects of the economic life of some nomadic Nharo Bushman groups,’ Ann. S. Afr. Mus. 56 (6): 275–322.Google Scholar
Stow, G. W. 1905 The Native Races of South Africa. London: Swan, Sonnenschein.Google Scholar
Tanaka, J. 1969 ‘The ecology and social structure of central Kalahari Bushmen; a preliminary report,’ Kyoto University African Studies 3: 1–20.Google Scholar
Thomas, E. Marshall 1959 The Harmless People. London: Seeker and Warburg. (Reprinted by Penguin, 1969.)Google Scholar
Thunberg, C. P. 1796 Travels in Europe, Africa and Asia made between the Years 1770 and 1779. 4 Vols. London: F. andC. Rivington.Google Scholar
Turner, V. 1967 The Forest of Symbols: Aspects ofNdembu Ritual. New York: Cornell.Google Scholar
Vinnicombe, P. 1971 ‘A Bushman hunting kit from the Natal Drakensberg,’ Ann. Natal Mus. 20 (3): 611–25.Google Scholar
Vinnicombe, P. 1972 ‘Myth, motive and selection in southern African rock art,’ Africa 42 (3): 192–204.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vinnicombe, P. 1975 ‘The ritual significance of eland (Taurotragus oryx) in the rock art of southern Africa’ in Anati, E. (ed.) Les Religions de la Prihistoire. Capo di Ponte: CentroCamuno di Studi Preistorici.Google Scholar
Vinnicombe, P. 1976 People of the Eland. Pietermaritzburg: Natal University Press.Google Scholar
Werner, A 1908 ‘Bushman paintings,’ J. RoyalAfr. Soc. 7: 387–93.Google Scholar
Westphal, E. O. J 1963 ‘The linguistic prehistory of southern Africa,’ Africa 33: 237–64.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Westphal, E. O. J 1971 ‘The click languages of south and east Africa,’ in Berry, J. and Greenberg, J. H. (eds) Linguistics in Subsaharan Africa, Vol. 7 of T.Sebeok (ed.) Current Trends in Linguistics. The Hague: Mouton.Google Scholar